The picture was mixed yesterday from the Old Continent stock markets, as the improvement seen in eurozone economic activity brought back to the fore speculation that the ECB may now have more room to further increase borrowing costs – and this mobilization is related to the European Union’s anti-inflationary campaign. central bank. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended yesterday’s session down 0.24%, but capping the previous decline, while the FTSE 100 also closed down 0.35% in London and the DAX in Frankfurt 0.07%. In Paris, the CAC 40 ended the session up 0.26%, while the FTSE MIB in Milan added 0.24% and the IBEX in Madrid added 0.26%.

The ECB’s ability to raise interest rates expands as economic activity in the euro area improves.

The latest economic data in the Eurozone showed an unexpected return of business activity to moderate growth in January, which added further evidence that the slowdown will not be as severe as expected. In light of this, the eurozone countries can avoid recession. Hopes for a milder recession and a smaller increase in interest rates by the US Federal Reserve have helped boost shares in European groups since the beginning of the year. Across the Atlantic late last night, US stocks traded to the close in anticipation of results from the tech giants. Overall, the pan-European STOXX 600 is up 6.7% year-to-date, outperforming the US S&P 500 by 4.5%. “There is a constant struggle between growth and rising interest rates. If things are going well economically, which is good for the stock markets, then the ECB has room to go up,” said Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers. In addition, he said profit-taking was somewhat responsible for yesterday’s session losses. Finally, despite the fact that the ECB is raising interest rates at the fastest pace in history, it has so far failed to bring inflation back close to its 2% target. The euro added 0.1% to $1.0887, while oil in New York fell 2% to $80.02 a barrel.